Vilest Things by Chloe GongMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I wasn't as impressed with Immortal Longings last year as I was with Gong's Secret Shanghai novels, and the GR ratings reflect that a lot of others were similarly unimpressed. But this book, I do have to say, is a noticeable improvement. By this time, we're a little past the weird not-quite-cyberpunk game aspect of Book 1 and much more into fantasy politicking, with a detailed world map showing how San-Er is located at the peninsular tip of a massive landmass resembling imperial China both past and present. While the protagonists are still eminently dislikable - except for August, the only one I'm really rooting for because Calla and Anton are screwing him over so hard with their endless campaigning against each other - I especially loved how Gong wrote this book as a critique of Chinese imperialism, especially the fact that outlying provinces in the north aren't allowed to follow their traditional religions or speak their native languages. R.F. Kuang would probably approve as well, I'm sure. And, once again, this book ends on a diabolical cliffhanger with no title or release date for the third and final book in sight...yet...
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